Sometimes you don’t want to go on an epic quest to save the world. It’s just too stressful. Having to go to work and pay bills is hard enough as it is. You’re not in the mood for a first-person shooter, and you don’t feel like being scared. You want to play a game where nobody expects anything from you. You can chill as you make progress at your own pace without worry.
This is why the cozy game genre is here to relax your day. There’s no need to fight insanely difficult boss battles or get yelled at in a capture the flag match. These are games where you feel calm while playing.
While many non-cozy games incorporate cozy elements, we are focusing on games that primarily emphasize relaxation and non-stressful experiences. Everyone might have different interpretations of cozy, but this is mine.
Some of these titles you might find overrated, but they do their job of sucking you in. If you are like me and prefer action-adventure games, these titles will make you rethink what you want in a game. They might make you a fan of the cozy genre.
There are so many great cozy titles out there, I wish I could fit them all into this list. These are just some titles I’ve enjoyed the most personally, so apologies if yours didn’t make the cut in advance.
10
Goat Simulator
Cozily Creating Havoc As A Goat
All you do in Goat Simulator is wreak havoc as a goat. That’s it. That’s the core gameplay loop. It’s a silly game, with the developers skipping a sequel and recently releasing part three instead. It’s like the open sandbox of GTA, but without the violence and wanted levels. It’s about being as chaotic as you want without having a tank chase after you.
What’s so cozy about being a chaotic goat? It’s mainly that there’s no mainline mission for you to do, like in other open-world sandbox games.
You want to just peacefully stroll around or headbutt everything you see, go for it. While there are some quests to unlock different outfits, there’s no pressure to do so. It’s a game you can play at your own pace, enjoying the jokes left by the developers. The DLCs, or better yet, the Remastered version, offer more maps and slightly different play styles… but it’s all the same, you’re just a goat going about.
It’s also one of the few games my kids will actually play besides Roblox, so there’s that family element going on for me at least. Sometimes the requirements to unlock new outfits can get a bit annoying, but that’s up to you if you really want them. It’s a chaotic cozy you’d like to see more of in games.
9
Neopets
Teaching Kids Adult Responsibility Since 1999
Yes, Neopets is still around. Yes, your Neopets have been starving for the last 20 years. Although I’m not sure if kiddos are still playing this, as it seems they all would rather play Roblox, Minecraft, or Fortnite. I tried doing a Neopets program with my colleague as a librarian a couple of years ago, and while some of the kids liked it, it just wasn’t what was “in” right now.
But those of us who grew up playing Neopets know the truth. This game taught us how to be responsible in a calm, sandbox manner. You might have learned how the stock market works by investing Neopoints and selling them when they reach a high. Even though your Neopets can starve, nothing bad actually ever happens to them… although that sad face of theirs will make you want to get them something to eat.
It’s a play-as-you-like type of game. You can start a jelly gallery, become the best at your favorite game, spend hours on Neoquest, or do the daily freebies. Some of us actually learned HTML and CSS by learning to customize our user-lookups, shops, and font appearance on the forums.
There are no expectations of you in this game except the ones you put on yourself, which makes this a cozy game. I find myself revisiting decades later as an adult, mainly to play Destruct-O-Match, one of the coziest games they have on there.
This is also the nicest gaming community I have ever encountered. Maybe because trolling on the forums gets you frozen, and you’ll lose all that hard progress. You can share your writing or roleplay on the forums. I haven’t found another web-based gaming website that replicates the vibes of Neopets ever since.
8
Town to City
A Cozy City Builder
Developer | Galaxy Grove |
|---|---|
Release Date | September 16th, 2025 |
Genre | City Builder |
I only discovered this when writing the early access preview… and I can say I got hooked. I enjoy the occasional mobile City Simulator game, but usually, you have to wait days to unlock new buildings. This is not the case with this game. Once you start playing, it’s hard to put it down.
Since it’s still in Early Access, there’s a lot that can be added; however, what we have so far is well-polished. The voxel-style graphics and general sense of city-building without consequence make for a relaxing experience.
As someone who loves the georama feature of the Dark Cloud series, Town to City really scratched that itch. Some residents have different needs, and it’s easy to accomplish without bankrupting your city.
There’s no penalty for leaving the game on for too long while doing something else, except for a cap on income and research points. However, this doesn’t make continuing forward too difficult. Citizens can be unhappy, but they don’t leave. If anything, they won’t work or farm, but it’s easy to rectify that.
You can build at your own pace and customize however you like. It’s a relaxing way to pass the time, and it’s hard to stop once you get started. It will definitely get you into trying the city-builder genre.
7
Unpacking
When Moving In Is Relaxing
In general, I’m someone who will have a chaotic but organized mess around my desk. I’ve never moved out in my life except for maybe getting my sibling’s room after they moved out, and when I got promoted and had to switch libraries (which thankfully, for that, all I had to do was put my stuff in a bin, and my employer took care of the transportation).
I can only imagine how annoying it is in real life to move out and settle in somewhere new. However, this game takes the hassle out of the moving-out process and puts you in the fun part of decorating your new living space.
All of this is combined with a story that shows rather than tells, as your primary objective is to organize your new space as you’d like. It’s a very subtle story that, by the end, will bring you to tears in a good way, making you think about the circle of life.
Similar to the book The Things They Carried, which I read in high school, I learned that what a person carries with them reveals a lot about their character. The game is like that, in that it’s about the little details you learn as you unpack, rather than the specifics of what you’re carrying during the Vietnam War.
In real life, I hate doing this because the thought of moving stuff around does not spark joy. But in this game, it’s actually relaxing to unpack. That’s all you have to worry about in this game compared to in real life, where you have to unpack what you can, then cook dinner or do any errands. It turns something that most of us find stressful into a fun and relaxing activity, showcasing the versatility of the cozy game genre.
6
Lil Gator Game
A Cozy Sibling Story
I’m not crying, you are. Lil Gator Game has you playing as Lonk, a gator trying to coax your big sister into playing with you, but she’s too busy to give you time. Instead, with your friends, you create a game to play on the island you live on, hoping to convince her to see how much fun you are having.
It’s a game that brings you back to childhood innocence, especially if you had older siblings who, when they got older, didn’t want to or couldn’t play with you anymore. Immediately, you’re gripped with a very relatable sibling story.
The freedom to wander around and make pretend enemies adds to the cutesy charm of this game. There are so many cute discoveries as you go about, and at one point you “sue a duck”. The game brings you back to the cozy innocence of childhood play, all set to some really adorable graphics. You could even “beat” it in one sitting if you really wanted to.
It’s cozy with a story at the end that will leave you in tears. It’s a refreshing change of pace from the many action-adventure games out there. You’re left yearning for more slice-of-life cozy games like it.
5
Stardew Valley
An Incredible Solo Dev Farm Creation
There are so many relaxing farm simulators out there. I remember the craze that was Farmville on Facebook many years ago, and seeing how advanced all your friends’ farms got. But of course, the waiting aspect that many mobile games suffer from eventually got a lot of us to forget about it altogether.
There was no way a game as beloved as Stardew Valley was not going to be on this list, as it’s one of the best examples out there in the cozy game genre. What’s most impressive about this game is the solo-dev story behind it.
A game doesn’t have to be AAA to be a great game appreciated by many. An indie game made by a small team or even a solo developer with passion, along with the right resources and a great gameplay loop, is all it takes to build a fanbase.
While some aspects could be potentially stressful and less cozy, depending on your playing style, it definitely helped popularize the cozy farm game genre for others. There are no real penalties for how you play this game, unless you have a speed-running mindset. Either way, it’ll definitely make you want to check out the tons of other farming games out there, even if this isn’t your cup of tea.
4
Animal Restaurant
Cute Visuals And Day By Day Growth
I usually don’t play mobile games, but I made an exception for this one. While there are many cozy mobile games out there, you often end up with a wait time, which can be skipped by paying, watching ads, or waiting a long time. This game is no stranger to that mechanic, but there are aspects of it that make the wait game worthwhile.
It’s really the cute graphics that drew me into playing this. In addition to tapping to collect money, you can expand your restaurant, upgrade to better furniture, or unlock new features.
There’s always something to do in this game, and even if you do your dailies for the day and have to wait until tomorrow, it’s not a hassle. It’s a restaurant simulator game that you’ll want to play, even if it’s for a few minutes a day.
It’ll definitely make you want to try other mobile simulator games, especially ones with cute graphics like this. The day-by-day progression makes it worth the time to see how far you have come along in your journey in making your restaurant look and run the way you want it to.
3
Animal Crossing: New Horizons
A Calming Island Town
Technically, this could be any game in the Animal Crossing series, but this is the first I played after the hype it got on its release date at the beginning of the pandemic lockdown.
Technically, this is my first Animal Crossing game, as some may feel other entries in the series are better than this one. In general, the core concept remains the same: decorating your neighborhood, gathering supplies by chopping trees or hitting rocks, and enjoying your townsfolk.
There’s no endgame except, I guess, paying off your debt to a raccoon. Those of us in debt in real life can find some catharsis, that, at least in Animal Crossing, we can finish paying it off. The fun revolves around just making your island look however you want.
With the Dreams mechanic, you can visit other players and visit their islands; some of them did a great job creating fandom-themed maps. At the onset of the pandemic, various brands and libraries utilized it as a means to reach out while we were forced to work remotely.
Either way, Animal Crossing will draw you into the cozy genre, even if you eventually get bored playing it. As a fan of the Like a Dragon series, Infinite Wealth did a great job of incorporating an Animal Crossing mini-game with Dondoko Island, which I spent hours on. I wouldn’t be surprised if more action-adventure-oriented games included more cozy mini-games like Animal Crossing.
2
The Sims 2
Unlimited Options
This could be any game in the franchise. The Sims 4 is newer, but The Sims 2 is where I started the life-simulator series, and it just hits better than anything else EA has released since then. Maybe it’s the mods that felt like virtual shopping as I grew up. Downloading all the custom content as the base game’s customization is lacking is just… ooh la la. Retail therapy, but free.
The Sims 2 focuses more on the needs, wants, and fears of your Sims as you watch their lives unfold. While some parts could be stressful, such as deciding to be a single parent raising seven toddlers without cheat codes, it can be particularly challenging to ensure everyone is well-fed before the social worker arrives. However, the beauty of this series is that you can play as you like.
Want to be completely evil? Put Sims in a room, delete the door, and wait until they starve to death? Put a sim in a pool and delete the ladder… oh, you can be cruel if you want to. Have a crush at school who refuses to notice you? Go ahead and create a fantasy life with that crush (maybe don’t let anyone know this, though). In fact, if you only want to build houses, you’re free to do just that.
It’s hours and hours of fun in the Sims; the amount of creativity you have is boundless, and it’s a relaxing way to pass the time. Whether you choose to fulfill your Sims’ needs or ignore them completely, it’s your playstyle and at your own pace. You’ll definitely become a fan of the franchise and enjoy other similar cozy life-simulator games such as InZoi.
1
Katamari Damacy Reroll
Keep Rollin’ Rollin’ Rollin’
All the Katamari games are eccentrically fun. Some of the catchiest music I’ve ever heard, and I’m just rolling around as a ball, getting as big as I can. There’s quite an eccentric cast of characters and cutscenes, as the King is quite the blabbermouth, who makes you, the prince, do various quests. It’s a humorous and relaxing game.
Even if you fail at requests, like not getting big enough by the deadline or accidentally putting your fireball in water… It’s not that much of a hassle having to restart. There’s something therapeutic about starting as small as a paperclip, and then growing big enough to roll people, elephants, buildings, entire continents, clouds… even planets themselves. It’s so ridiculous, but oh so satisfying to do.
If you’re looking for a way to de-stress, any of the Katamari Damacy games will help. If you’re not a fan of cozy games, this will change your mind about the genre, thanks to its wacky yet calming nature. I need more Katamari Damacy games to play, and I’d love to own the OST on vinyl.
